Today’s news has been dominated by the latest stop on George W. Bush’s fear tour, the release of the new bin Laden tape, the so-called handover of the command of Iraqi security forces, and of course, Paris Hilton’s arrest for drinking and driving.
Lost in the shuffle of all this is the latest U.S. casualty count out of Iraq. This AP article simply and briefly notes that:
As of Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2006, at least 2,658 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war.
Unfortunately, that story posted only minutes ago is already out of date. According to Iraq Coalition Casualties, there has now been 2,666 American servicemen and women killed in Iraq.
Think about it…at least eight more Americans were killed today in Bush’s war and there is nary a ripple in the media. And for now, these eight people are only known as:
The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of kin and release by the Department of Defense.
Eight more families are about to receive the news that their loved one is dead, while George W. Bush spent the day touting progress in his war on terror, defending illegal wiretapping and excusing torture. And as I type this, he is, no doubt, sleeping like a baby.
So sad that we continue to throw away the lives of our military personal on such an ill-conceived, poorly planned and poorly supported venture. No good has/will come from our troops efforts there, in my view.
Recently in a local monthly publication I read an add for (get this) a fundraiser golf outing at a nearby Country Club. Foursomes are to pay $150.00 per player to participate in this endeavor. Around $90.00 of the $150.00 is to be donated to the Michigan National Guard in the form of helmet upgrade kits! Each golfer would be providing an upgrade kit for the helmet of one of our guardsmen in Iraq.
Although I applaud those who will participate in this fundraiser for “supporting our troops”, I cannot help but shake my head in utter disgust at our administration and their absolute incompetence. The U.S. spends as much annually on our military as is spent by all of the other countries in the world put together. Yet our long serving/long suffering troops must depend on private donations to properly equip themselves. Unbelievable, don’t you think?
It’s not unbelievable if you consider what the military budget is used for – big time contracts for missle defense, contractors, black pits of waste and fraud… for anything, really, except for the expendable troops.
Except the troops are becoming a lot less expendable lately, they’re having a hard time keeping the ranks filled.
I think I am right in saying that some of our troops are either on, or scheduled for the fourth deployment in Iraq!
Absolutely, as well as my old Guard unit…I’m glad I’m out! I was by no means argueing. That’s the reason they’re short of people, too, from the multiple deployments. They’re finding out that Joe Grunt isn’t as expendable as they thought or they wouldn’t be having so many recruiting and retention problems. But they never invest more into the servicemember than they have too, but big budget items? That’s where the money goes.
JD: I took your original comment that way. I was simply adding support to your statement. 😉 The big loser here of course is the guy in the trenches. 🙁
The big loser is always the guy, now “gal” if I may use that word, in the trenches – since the beginning of history. Not just the soldier, but worker and peasant too. Reminds me of this piece below that I used to BS my way through my MA exam (well, not really BS…you know what I mean).
Questions of a Reading Worker
by Bertolt Brecht
Who built seven-doored Thebes?
In the books are the names of kings.
Did the kings haul the rocks?
And Babylon, many times destroyed-
who built it up these many times? In which houses
of golden-gleaming Lima did the construction
workers live?
In the evening,
when the Chinese wall was finished,
where did the masons go?
The great Rome is full of triumphal arches.
Who erected them?
Who did the caesars triumph over?
Did the many-sung Byzantium
have only palaces for its inhabitants?
Even in legendary Atlantis,
the night the sea vanquished it,
did the drowning cry for their slaves.
The young Alexander conquered India.
He alone?
Caesar defeated the gauls.
Didn’t he have at least a cook with him?
Philip of Spain cried after his fleet had sunk.
Did no one else cry?
Frederick the Second was victorious in the Seven Year war.
Who won besides him?
Every page a victory.
Who cooked the victory feast?
Every ten years a great man.
Who paid his expenses?
So many reports.
So many questions.